gremlinbangles

14 hours ago, land lover said:

There is no size limit except to what will be traveling with you on the train, for that we just used 2 backpacks. Last month we saw many LARGE suitcases outside of hotel rooms waiting for pick up. Ourselves we decided to just use carry-ons...it was easy to do it in Alaska for 12 days.

You are better than I am!  I cant fit 12 days in to a carry on, I cant even begin to imagine it.  I'm am struggling with packing but I got a few more hours to figure it out.

Thank you, so much information and yet I feel so unprepared.  A question regarding luggage is there a size limitation to the suitcase that travels separately.  I can pack for the trip (land and cruise) in our large suitcase, so to bring 2 suitcases seems silly and more to handle. So I would just like to bring a suitcase for everything.

Wow!  Glad everyone is okay!  I'm sure Princess is on top of this as this is their busy season.  

Again thamk you for the posts.  We are doing a land tour before we arrive by train at 5:30.  With a 5:00 dining time we just assumed we do buffet but it sounds like we can just do dinner after muster drill.

On 6/15/2019 at 1:43 PM, PandaBear62 said:

Day 1

Whittier to Mt. McKinley Princess

 

 Beverage menu for our domed train car

 

i enjoyed the mimosa...it was good snd dh had the hot cocoa with peppermint schnaps.

thank you for sharing counting the days to our trip....

16 hours ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

 

Cap & Coral... thanks again for the replies.

 

Upsell limits I understand but a 4 minute response time?  I Emailed and Called the TA immediately who said they called immediately after speaking with me.  I think something else is going on, but, again, on the 11th we were happy with OceanView and we'll be sailing to Alaska so I can't really complain about my cabin.  Everything we experienced so far does say something about Princess's Global Customer Service philosophy (at least to me).   HAL was 180 degrees different.... total opposite.

 

+100 for the on-deck blankets!  Woohoo!!

 

Smoooooth Sailing!!!  😃 

Yes 4 minutes can be a lifetime in a call center.  We are in a similar situation in that we booked more than a year ago and had a 5:00 dining time.  About a month ago I realized on the 1st day we didn't even arrive to Whittaker until 5:30, the 2nd day we had a Hubbard excursion and wouldn't be there at 5.  And as I looked at the rest of our excursions I'm like 5 o'clock dining isnt going to work.  So I emailed our travel agent (also a friend)and asked her to change it to anytime dining.  About 20 minutes later she emailed me and said she did it and she was sorry that we would be missed as everyone in the group had 5 o'clock dining.  When I read that I called her clarified and asked if she could switch us back.  Well as luck would have it she tried couldn't do it and we were put on waitlist at number 27...lol

So anyway all that to tell you yea I understand how quickly thinks change.  But hang in there we are going to Alaska.

Ps we are now number 7 on waitlist and still have to July 3rd before we sail.

5 minutes ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

 

Thank you!!!  My fingers are still crossed!  ;-)   I sent a number of emails and they were responded to in order -- and before sailing --  and we now have everything documented at Princess and with the Port and even called and made special airport arrangements with the TSA (they were extremely helpful, efficient and responsive -- surprising for a gov't agency!).

 

Although yesterday we learned from a recent cruiser that the Ruby will have chairs and loungers available on the public decks, our TA contacted us this morning to advise that we were selected to be offered a paid upgrade to a Balcony cabin.  Yesterday we decided to keep our money and stay OceanView but upon receiving the upgrade offer this morning, we decided that for a few hundred dollars more, we should go ahead and buy the upgrade (this way we know I will have a chair close by when necessary).  

 

At this point, I cannot think of something Princess could have done better (except maybe hire a few more staff members for the Accessibility Office!!!).  Now I get to relax at home while I look forward to relaxing on board (while hopefully seeing tons of wildlife).

 

If I had any advice for those booking after me, it would be --- send the email to Accessibility, sit on your hands and wait patiently. 

 

Smooth Sailing.... 😉

You wont regret the balcony!  Alaska us beautiful.  I agree a 10 day response time is not good customer service.  With that being said have a great voyage!

17 hours ago, Northern Aurora said:

Through the years we have stayed at three of the five Princess Lodges.  My memory is iffy on the hair dryer (but somehow I do think they are provided), but shampoo, conditioner and shower gel are in wall mounted containers.  And while there is no air conditioning, moveable fans are in the room.

Thank you.  I did read there was no air but the tempuratures should be okay.  Just trying how to pack and what to bring.

I see no advantage on princess to book a guarentee cabin as there is no discount on it.  Obviously if you book late that may be all that's available.  However, if you book early chose your room as upgrades are rare in this day of upsells.

Hi, I remember reading some of the princess hotels on the cruise tour do not have air conditioning, which is fine.  However, as I start packing g I got to wondering can anyone tell me do they have hair dryers and do they provide shampoo and conditioner like most hotels. I am assuming the answer is yes but you know what they say about assuming.  Thanks.

So glad you finally got it worked out!  Hard to believe July is almost here.  We are doing a short landtour then July 3 leaving on the Coral.

1 hour ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

 

Just checked last night and All the Special Services are listed!

 

Yay!  Hoping this is a good sign for our cruise!

 

 

KNJ:  2 people for the ENTIRE department?  No wonder it takes a minimum of 10 days for a response.  😞  So far, so good, though.  Our special requirements are now listed on our Princess documents.  All we need is some balmy weather in Alaska and very active whales and bears.... is that too much to ask?  Nah.... right?  LOL!  

 

Thanks to everyone who responded.  Will report back in July after our cruise!  😃 

37 minutes ago, SunNFunCruzer said:

 

Hi Coral -- thank you again for sharing your experience:

 

 

I have been checking my Personalizer almost daily since Gremlin quoted above stated that hers has a notation.  I am sure we can work this all out at the port and on the ship once we board, but I thought it might be smoother to have everything prearranged.    Since both lines are under the Carnival Umbrella, I am really surprised at how different this office is managed and operated.

 

Thank you again.  Did you see my post about the $25 free with every $500 purchased from Princess?  Hope you can take advantage!  Smooth Sailing!

Mine is listed with the special services, ie sip and sail pack, free gratuities etc.  Very easy to miss.  I hope you get it resolved

3 hours ago, bemis12 said:

I board today. Will try to follow up.

great!

great!

13 minutes ago, bobbismith said:

We have it for our cruise in 2 weeks, $59.99 per device for the 7 days.  I am hoping to use it for messaging.  We won't stream.  We will look at Facebook and take and share pictures.  

Bobbi

Dont forget to update as to how it's working.  We are sailing July 3.

"We recommend sort-sided tote bags or backpacks no larger than 17"X14"X4" width with a zip enclosure.

Wheeled carry on cases that are used as carry-on luggage on airlines are too large and are not suitable as hand-carried luggage on motorcoaches and trains."

Sorry I dont have a phone number, however look at your travel summary, near the end, under Special Services.  If its noted there you are good to go

I also thought a 10 day response was long however we did/ do have time.  I emailed Princess/ Cunard on March 28, 2019 and recieved their automatic response about 10 days.

We recieved an email response on April 10.  You can do the math.  It's timeliness is an area of customer service that can be improved on.  

You might want to review your travel summary and see if there is a notation on it.  I have one on mine.  I hope everything works out for you.

We are about are less than 2 months out and while it's hard we have seen mini back packs and other types of totes that will work.  We plan on having our paperwork, binoculars and medicine in it so we think we are good.  But since we never been we cant a swerve your question, so we will follow.

Our roll call is less than 2 months out and nothing much has been going on.  I have had previous roll calls that were very lively and had organized events.  Each roll call is different.

Thank you.  Sounds like a taxi for us.  I appreciate the information. This is the first time we are doing a land tour pre cruise and staying after cruise for a few days to explore Vancouver, then flying back.

If not think I want to struggle with the luggage on the the sky train from what I read our hotel is not along that line.

Thanks again.  Yes we will go through customs at YVR.  That's great news!  Other then getting up early and standing in line we will be good to go.  Glad we wont have to worry about stuff in Seattle.  We are so very excited.

Thank you.  Our plane leave around 6:30 am and we will be going from hotel to airport. So that sound easy enough.  However in regards to suitcases.  I assume (silly me) that once they are checked in through the airline or customs or both then Delta will handle the transfer in Seattle?    

I will check Nexus and see if we have enough time to get it before we leave.  While we have done several cruises we previously always arrived back at US port and while researching this stuff it gets more confusing.

Also need took at Sky Train routes....tha k you

If a washer is done and nobody around I check to see if dryers are all in use.  If not  I place the wash in the dryer and start my wash using the now vacant washer.  If they come while I'm doing this, I tell them its waiting in the the dryer, they just need to start it.  If no dryer is vacant I loosely fold it and leave on table.

If a dryer is done and I need it, I loosely fold the clothes and also put on the table.  So far no one has been upset.  But I am always very pleasant and  say something like oh the dryer stopped and I folded them so they wouldn't get wrinkled.  No sense in spending you vacation ironing.  A smile usually works